


Returning Home

by CatrinaSL



Series: Three Things [126]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Ballet Shoes - Freeform, Black Panther (2018) Spoilers, Bucky Barnes Recovering, Dancing, Domestic, Domestic Avengers, Domestic Fluff, F/F, F/M, M/M, Multi, OT4, One Big Happy Family, Pancakes, Pre-Poly, SHIP DARCY LEWIS WITH ALL THE THINGS, Silicone Baking Sheet, Three Things, record player
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-17
Updated: 2018-03-17
Packaged: 2019-04-03 19:59:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 972
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14003574
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CatrinaSL/pseuds/CatrinaSL
Summary: Bucky slowly recovers in Wakanda, helped along the way by the people he loves most.





	Returning Home

**Author's Note:**

  * For [miabauer](https://archiveofourown.org/users/miabauer/gifts).



> miabauer prompted ballet Shoes (in Bucky's size), Record player, Silicone baking sheet.

“Good morning, Sergeant Barnes.”

“Bucky,” he corrected.

Shuri smiled. “How are you feeling?”

“Good,” Bucky replied. “Thank you.”

The princess looked pleased, then motioned for him to follow. "Come. Much more for you to learn."

Bucky was led to a building that looked to be a comfortable residence from the outside and proved to be even more comfortable on the inside. There was music coming from somewhere, something he recognized but couldn't place, and it smelled delicious.

"Do you like it?" Shuri asked.

Bucky nodded. "It's nice."

"It's yours," she told him. "Well, not  _ only _ yours. It's a big place, and there are a few other people staying here, so you'll have roommates."

Bucky took a deep breath. He and his doctor had been talking about how it was time to start socializing. This was a step in the right direction.

"You said I had things to learn?"

Shuri grinned. "Let me introduce you to someone."

Bucky followed her down a hallway to a large room that seemed to serve as a dining room and kitchen. Two women were there, one covered in flour and the other pristine... until she spit out her coffee at the sight of Shuri.

"I was hoping you would stop by!" she exclaimed, ignoring Bucky. "I was wondering if I could pick your brain about some—"

"Yes, Doctor Foster," Shuri interrupted. "I have some time today. But first, I want to introduce Bucky. He'll be staying here."

"Hi," the woman said, reaching out to shake Bucky's hand. She withdrew her left hand and put out her right when she saw he wouldn't be able to shake with  _ his _ left.

"And this is Darcy," Shuri continued.

Darcy waved a spatula at him from behind the counter. She had flour on her nose.

"Then... Doctor Foster and I will leave you." Shuri patted Bucky on the shoulder. "Call myself or Doctor Nyaniso if you need anything, okay?"

Bucky nodded.

"I'm making biscotti," Darcy said as soon as they were alone. She held up a silicone baking sheet. "Wanna help?"

It turned out that what Bucky had to learn was baking. Lots of baking. In between physical therapy and appointments with his therapist and tests with Shuri in the lab for his new arm, Bucky learned everything Darcy had to teach about baked goods and how to make them.

She also taught him how to disco, which Star Wars movies to enjoy and which ones to avoid, and updated him on all the Avengers gossip. Apparently Sam had struck out with two separate Dora Milaje, and that made Bucky smile.

The day he got his new arm, Bucky taught Darcy how to foxtrot. The record player got a lot of use after that. Bucky sometimes wondered who could have put it there, even though he knew. Every time Darcy put on a record, it reminded Bucky of how much he missed Steve.

Finally, he asked his doctor about Steve's whereabouts. The man just smiled and said he wasn't aware of the Captain's mission details. "But you may ask your friend Darcy. Perhaps she will know."

So that evening Bucky asked. Darcy blushed when she told him that Steve was away—in Europe, last she'd heard—looking for someone. 

"He'll be back when he finds them, or if he decides he can't," she said.

"What's with your face?" Bucky wanted to know.

"What about my face?" Darcy asked.

"You're blushing," Bucky accused.

"I am not," Darcy replied, blushing deeper.

"You sweet on him or something?"

Darcy adopted a lofty air. "That's for me to know and you never to find out."

"What if I want to find out?"

Darcy raised an eyebrow. "Bucky Barnes, are you  _ flirting _ with me?"

"I think maybe I am," he replied with a smirk.

"Is this just some flirting between friends or should I be feeling all twitterpated?" Darcy asked.

Bucky considered her question. "I'll let you know."

He had nearly made up his mind when he walked downstairs one morning and found Steve there, laughing with Darcy as they made pancakes together.

"Bucky!" Steve wiped his hands on a towel and headed into the dining room to hug his best friend.

"Beard," Bucky observed.

"I thought I'd try it out," Steve told him.

"It's sexy af!" was Darcy's opinion.

"Where have you been?"

Steve shrugged. "Around. I... was looking for someone."

"So Darcy said," Bucky replied. "You find them?"

"He did," came a new voice from behind him.

But it wasn't a new voice. It was a voice he knew better than his own.

"Natalia," Bucky began as he turned around.

"Yasha," she returned. "You look well."

The four of them sat around the dining room table and ate breakfast together like a family. Bucky liked it. The three most important people in his life, in the same room, laughing together. It was like home.

Afterward, Steve helped Darcy clean up and Bucky went with Natasha to her room.

"They tell me you remember everything," she said.

Bucky nodded. "I'm sorry for—"

"I didn't come here for apologies," she interrupted. "I just want to know if you remember this."

He watched as she pulled something out of her bag, and blinked when she held it out to him.

Then he laughed. "Where did you  _ find _ those?!"

"Right where you left them," she told him. "I picked them up when you took them off and they've been in my stash in Smolensk ever since."

Bucky took the shoes from her and stared at them. It had been decades since he'd worn them, but he could remember every second of that day: the music, the look of delight on Natasha's face, the way she moved.

Her face was different now. No less happy, but more content.

"Welcome back, Yasha," she said, as Bucky embraced her. "Welcome home."

**Author's Note:**

> Jane is a total Shuri fangirl.
> 
> [Prompt a Three Things fic!](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf7S2MbkK0CxVHMG3kF8CD6fYqD0zwY-J6MqLb21nmFyRpE4w/viewform)
> 
> [Reblog on tumblr](http://catrinasl.tumblr.com/post/171975407878/returning-home)
> 
> Tumblr: [catrinasl](http://catrinasl.tumblr.com)
> 
> Twitter: [@Catrina_SL](http://twitter.com/Catrina_SL)


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